Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has warned the EU that if it makes an "unjust" decision that is "insulting to our country and our people," he will "lift the curtain and tell our people everything."

With the "unfair decision" he meant what has been apparent for weeks and has now happened - in contrast to Ukraine and Moldova, Georgia has not received the status of an EU accession candidate.

Garibashvili left in the dark what secrets he would reveal.

Reinhard Veser

Editor in Politics.

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But the first reaction of the head of the ruling party "Georgian Dream", Irakli Kobachidze, already makes the thrust clear: Georgia did not receive the candidate status "because, unlike Ukraine and even Moldova, it was not prepared to make the sacrifices" that were necessary for this be.

In doing so, Kobachidze continued what politicians and the media of the ruling party had been drumming into Georgians for weeks: the West was demanding the opening of a second front against Russia in Georgia as the price for EU candidate status.

But the government is doing everything to prevent the war in Ukraine from spreading to Georgia.

That goes down well with part of the country's population.

Georgia itself experienced a Russian attack in the summer of 2008, as a result of which Russian troops are still just over 40 kilometers from Tbilisi.

Western diplomats in Tbilisi have objected to the allegations made by the Georgian government in recent weeks.

The US ambassador even went so far as to indirectly accuse the government of spreading Russian disinformation.

Most Georgians want to join the EU

The government officially insists that Georgia's integration into the EU and NATO are the country's most important strategic goals.

That corresponds to the mood of the population.

In polls for many years, between 70 and 80 percent of Georgians have been in favor of striving for EU membership.

The denial of candidate status is therefore a problem for the government.

The decision of the EU Commission is "unfortunately correct," says Giga Bokeria from the opposition party "European Georgia" of the FAZ. But the message is also: "We have a chance if we change course and return to the path of democracy." However, this government is no longer in a position to do so.

The real reasons why Georgia did not receive candidate status can be found in the EU Commission's recommendations to the country.

First and foremost, it calls for overcoming political polarization through bipartisan cooperation “in the spirit of the April 19 agreement”.

This agreement between the government and the opposition in Georgia was brokered in April last year by EU Council President Charles Michel, who had traveled to Tbilisi to resolve a domestic political crisis in Georgia.

This ended the boycott of parliament by the opposition parties, which they announced after what they saw as unfair and manipulated elections in autumn 2020.